Sometimes, getting to know a city well takes a fresh perspective and the kind of curiosity that comes with being a stranger in a new town. I’d been to Dubuque before I moved there in 2009. I’d seen the beautiful riverfront and museums, taken pictures of the massive and stately “painted ladies” high on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River and enjoyed the friendliness of the people I met. It wasn’t until I became a resident that I started to learn the real stories.

When I began to get involved in the neighborhoods, those stories all came out. I learned why buildings looked the way they do. I learned about men like architect Fridolin Heer and the fact that the old jailhouse was modeled after the “The Tombs” of New York City. That made me wonder about the old brownstone blocks that feel so much like Brooklyn. As I accumulated stories, I knew that I had to share what I’d learned.